Escape to the Movies: Pacific Rim

[Tim Chuma]

The movie was pretty good but I have to say...those 'Australian' characters had the worst 'Australian' accents ever.

Spoiler

It's not doing so well over here in Australia (opened in 4th place) and that poster of Sydney in rubble? Yeah...not in the movie. A Kaiju attacks Sydney briefly but there's hardly any destruction as it's quickly disposed of by the 'Australian'-piloted Jaeger

The action was intense and epic although I don't think it will do very well unfortunately. Mainly because it is camp and full of cheesy acting/dialogue. It will probably be a box-office flop (especially with a $180 Million budget) and end up a cult classic like Starship Troopers.

Still, if it is Sydney being destroyed it should do well in Melbourne. I will give that scene a rousing cheer when I see it. Was this scene in Godzilla - Final Wars that got the cheers and applause http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MXzJFlzYgY

Also in Godzilla vs. Destoroyah the big G attacks a nuclear power plant from the ocean while in meltdown. Was not Fukashima though, but close.

Another edit - if it was an Evangelion movie it would be 2 and a half hours of teeangers whining and 1/2 an hour of fighting. Plus they would drag it out for 10 or 15 years with "re-imaginings" and not just END THE SERIES.

 

[Monsterfurby]

Hold on - two pilots mind-merged to pilot a mecha?

Where did I [http://www.amazon.com/Mecha-Corps-Novel-Armor-Wars/dp/0451464311] see that before [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9M1Wf8DU2UA]?

I mean, okay, alright, it's Mecha vs. Kaiju - it's not supposed to be original. But still, it irks me that the hollywood blockbuster version once again gets the "brilliant ideas" credit for things that others did a billion times before. It irks me that it gets credit for ideas that Mecha Corps stole in a much more intelligent fashion, and Mecha Corps is not even a great novel!

 

[K12]

[quote/]If you factor in the International Gross then Pacific Rim thrashed Grown Ups 2, I imagine they'll start reducing the NA locations and focus on keeping the thing alive in Europe/Asia. It is doing fantastic business in Ireland, UK, and Malta. As well as supposedly booked out cinemas in Germany.

Haven't heard anything specific from Asia but as we all know, Japan has never favoured films about mecha.

I thought the bit with the giant tidal wave was much better.[/quote]

I'm glad it's doing well in the UK because when I went to see it on Saturday at 8pm after it opened on the Friday the screen was only about half full! It was a 2D screening so maybe that had an effect but it was still worryingly empty.

 

[duchaked]

to be fair, I enjoyed the hell outta Into Darkness and Man of Steel

BUT this is something I'll watch once I get a chance.

 

[torrent29]

The movie was thoroughly awesome. Though I have to point out there was a sort of knowing half nod to the Kaiju films in general. Sure its only in passing but the opening bit about the history of the Kaiju War is really a half mocking little take on the history of Kaiju films in general. From the terror of the first Godzilla to the accepting them as almost mascots, until well.. now they're awe inspiring again.

Thats what I liked most about this film, just jaw dropping awe, few films have ever made me just look at something in wonder.

I hope the isnt the closest he ever gets to At the Mountains of Madness.

 

[geizr]

Godzilla + Evangelion - Shinji = Pacific Rim = 100% Pure-T Awesome.

Just saw this yesterday, and, yes, it is definitely a must see action movie.

 

[Cyanic]

Screw all the analysis and judging, you're missing the point. Its live action robots punching monsters in the face and its FUN. Learn to suspend disbelief and just enjoy yourself for once.

 

[Cpu46]

I saw it at a preview screening yesterday, and I very much enjoyed it. Huge battle scenes, not too much bloat between bloat between them, and finaly a movie that decided it could end with out a massive sequel hook in it. A refreshingly self contained movie. GO SEE IT

Del Toro confirmed a sequel is in preproduction.

Really? I seem to remember hearing somewhere that there was no sequel planned but that he had a lot of ideas for one. Also that Del Toro wanted desperately to do a Pacific Rim/ Godzilla crossover.

 

[knight4light]

I saw it at a preview screening yesterday, and I very much enjoyed it. Huge battle scenes, not too much bloat between bloat between them, and finaly a movie that decided it could end with out a massive sequel hook in it. A refreshingly self contained movie. GO SEE IT

Del Toro confirmed a sequel is in preproduction.

Really? I seem to remember hearing somewhere that there was no sequel planned but that he had a lot of ideas for one. Also that Del Toro wanted desperately to do a Pacific Rim/ Godzilla crossover.

omg yess! i was thinking durring that movie. what if a nova breath attack came from the ocean from the direction of japan.. and you see a large spikey shadow in the fog. :3 it would be the most.. epic.. of epic... :3 i mean no mention of japan anywhere... the probably didnt need giant robots with godzilla on defense patrol

 

[Cpu46]

I saw it at a preview screening yesterday, and I very much enjoyed it. Huge battle scenes, not too much bloat between bloat between them, and finaly a movie that decided it could end with out a massive sequel hook in it. A refreshingly self contained movie. GO SEE IT

Del Toro confirmed a sequel is in preproduction.

Really? I seem to remember hearing somewhere that there was no sequel planned but that he had a lot of ideas for one. Also that Del Toro wanted desperately to do a Pacific Rim/ Godzilla crossover.

omg yess! i was thinking durring that movie. what if a nova breath attack came from the ocean from the direction of japan.. and you see a large spikey shadow in the fog. :3 it would be the most.. epic.. of epic... :3 i mean no mention of japan anywhere... the probably didnt need giant robots with godzilla on defense patrol

There actually was mention of Japan.

Spoiler

Mako was one of the few survivors of a Kaiju attack on Tokyo by a giant crab Kaiju. She was saved by the Marshal piloting Coyote Tango, the Japanese Jaeger.

But yea Godzilla vs Jaeger vs Kaiju would be one hell of a movie.

 

[SixShooter]

Movie was kinda "meh". For starters, as other critics have pointed out, they missed a better movie, i.e.: Why montage your way through the first Gaiju sightings? That sh*t would've been awesome!

The movie is overlong. Long stretches of boredom somehow managed to infiltrate a giant robot movie.

The fights were weirdly choreographed, with weird edits, dark colors that blur into each other, and odd speeds that don't make them as fun as they could've been. The use of the freight ship as a bat was awesome though.

The performances were kinda =\

And the last third of the movie was ripped off damn near verbatim from Independence Day, killing the ending drama.

Plagiarism isn't cool brahs.

Of course, leave it to Bob to defend this movie as yet another part of his campaign against Nolan.

 

[omegawyrm]

It's kind of weird to see so many comparisons being drawn to Evangelion with Pacific Rim. I'm basically one of the biggest Eva fans ever, and the comparison never even occurred to me until someone pointed it out, I think largely because the whole "giant robots fighting aliens and they neural link with the mechs" is absolutely not what makes Eva unique or why it is remembered. Gunbuster is usually considered the go-to reference point for that story, especially with as arch of a presentation as Pacific Rim goes for. Heck, I think the movie drew way more on Big O for the robots, with piston punches, chest rockets, and a wrestling-boxing fighting style; and drew on G Gundam for the human characters, big team of broadly drawn and slightly nationalistic stereotypes who are still awesome heroes, and they pilot the mechs with a system that translates their body movements to the actions of the mechs.

I'm assuming it's just that more people have seen Evangelion?

 

[AD-Stu]

Went to see it today expecting to see giant robots punching giant lizards in the face, I got to see giant robots punching giant lizards in the face, and it was exactly as awesome as it sounds.

It's big dumb grin stuff, no need to overthink it.

 

[awdrifter]

It's kind of weird to see so many comparisons being drawn to Evangelion with Pacific Rim. I'm basically one of the biggest Eva fans ever, and the comparison never even occurred to me until someone pointed it out, I think largely because the whole "giant robots fighting aliens and they neural link with the mechs" is absolutely not what makes Eva unique or why it is remembered. Gunbuster is usually considered the go-to reference point for that story, especially with as arch of a presentation as Pacific Rim goes for. Heck, I think the movie drew way more on Big O for the robots, with piston punches, chest rockets, and a wrestling-boxing fighting style; and drew on G Gundam for the human characters, big team of broadly drawn and slightly nationalistic stereotypes who are still awesome heroes, and they pilot the mechs with a system that translates their body movements to the actions of the mechs.

I'm assuming it's just that more people have seen Evangelion?

I agree. Eva technically aren't even mechs. I see the Jaeger drawing inspiration from Gundam and the Kaijuu actually reminds me of the Zentradi, because of the way they look and their hive mind deal.

 

[Sigmund Av Volsung]

I just saw this movie...

AND IT WAS FUCKING AMAZING!!

All credit to Guillhermo del Toro, that guy is a goddamn genius!

 

[daibakuha]

Plagiarism isn't cool brahs.

I think you need to look up what that word means.

 

[MrGalactus]

campaign against Nolan.

What do you mean by this? Not saying you're wrong, just curious.

 

[Darkened_Angel]

It was a really good movie I thought it was well worth seeing.

 

[PuckFuppet]

I'm assuming it's just that more people have seen Evangelion?

I haven't, at all, but it is frequently referenced by people who have and as a part of any major discourse on certain niches in popular culture (anime, mecha, annoying teenagers etc.) so it might just be the most broadly known example.

As a result of seeing Pacific Rim work, which I didn't think it would (maybe my low expectations explain why I liked this film so damn much), I intend to go on a mecha binge at some point soon and the name that keeps coming up when I look for recommendations is Evangelion.

 

[Olas]

I've never really liked giant monster movies, but I hoped this would be the one to change that. Nope. However I do think I've realized why they have such lackluster appeal to me. Watching a giant robot fight a giant monster from a distance really feels no different than watching a regular sized robot fight a regular sized monster up close, just in super slow motion. What I'm saying is the size of the creatures is irrelevant because there's no sense of scale when everything's giant. My favorite scenes in the movie were ones where we saw giants from the perspective of regular human characters.